School Leadership & Management

ISSN: 1363-2434 (Print) 1364-2626 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cslm20

Preparing new teachers for leadership roles: a

model in four phases
Cheri L. Quinn , Cynthia S. Haggard & Betty A. Ford
To cite this article: Cheri L. Quinn , Cynthia S. Haggard & Betty A. Ford (2006) Preparing new
teachers for leadership roles: a model in four phases , School Leadership & Management, 26:1,
55-68, DOI: 10.1080/13634230500492954
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13634230500492954

Published online: 20 Aug 2006.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 214

View related articles

Citing articles: 5 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cslm20
Download by: [Tata Institute of Social Sciences]

Date: 07 October 2016, At: 00:13

School Leadership and Management,

Vol. 26, No. 1, February 2006, pp. 55
68
/

Preparing new teachers for leadership

roles: a model in four phases1
Cheri L. Quinn*a, Cynthia S. Haggardb and Betty A. Fordc
a

Eastern New Mexico University, USA; bWest Chester University, USA; cFayette City,
Pennsylvania, USA

What knowledge, skills and experiences combine to support leadership potential and desire? Are
rich sources of human potential remaining untapped and untrained to the detriment of student
learning, site-based effectiveness and renewal of the profession? A four-phase model of leadership
development for teachers is proposed in this paper.

Few teachers begin their careers with a vision of future leadership roles. In many
cases new teachers probably fail to grasp the implications of their roles as classroom
leaders, much less the broader notion that they have an important contribution to
make to the preparation of future teachers or the reshaping of education as a whole.
If the full potential of untapped and unschooled leadership is to be realized, then
teacher preparation programs must include leadership models and support staff
development for inservice teachers pursuing leadership roles.
New teachers must be socialized and educated to assume leadership roles within the
schools and within the profession. A four-phase model for inclusion of leadership
learning within the framework of preservice and inservice teacher education programs
holds promise for increased participation in site-based leadership and leadership within
the larger educational community. The development of national certification
standards, the focus on teacher empowerment and the desire to change public
perception that teachers are subordinates subject to the whims of the powers that be
have all contributed to the desire to articulate a model for leadership preparation.
Defining and describing a set of skills and experiences necessary for assuming
leadership roles provides the framework for a preparation model. The necessary
elements for providing skills, practice and meaningful experiences for both preservice
and inservice teachers resulted in a model with four distinct phases of professional
development.
Phase I includes those skills necessary for effective classroom leadership. Phase II
explores leadership with peers and within professional associations. Phase III
illuminates the responsibilities for leadership in preparing the next generation of
*Corresponding author. Department of Educational Studies and Professional Education, Eastern
New Mexico University, Portales, NM 88130, USA. Email: Cheri.Quinn@enmu.edu
ISSN 1363-2434 (print)/ISSN 1364-2626 (online)/06/010055-14
# 2006 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13634230500492954

56

C. L. Quinn et al.

teachers. Finally, Phase IV addresses leadership issues for affecting change within the
profession. While this model presents a framework, it is not an exhaustive model.
What it does present is a point of departure for those who desire the inclusion of
leadership teaching in their teacher education programs. A description of the skills
and experiences that inform this model is followed by an examination of each phase
of the model.
Skills and experiences for leadership preparation
The teacher-leader
The literature is replete with allusions to the new, improved teacher*the teacherleader. This new breed of teacher is intimately involved in the decision-making
processes that impact student learning (Moran, 1990), curricular imperatives (Berry
& Ginsberg, 1990; Bozik, 1990), budget allocations (Ryan & Cooper, 2000),
personnel selections (Darling-Hammond, 1988) and the assessment of outcomes
(Ryan & Cooper, 2000). Teachers involved in these new roles are variously labeled
empowered teachers, members of site-based management teams, peer mentors
and lead teachers. Many teachers, through increased political activism, try to
influence education policy at the state and national levels. Teacher-leaders abound
within the educational community. The issue is, would leaders emerge more readily if
they were coached from the beginning of their preparation programs to know there
were future leadership roles for them? Elizabeth Swart (1990) a classroom teacher,
jealous of her pharmacist husbands professional networks and ability to influence his
profession, writes, What teachers need is credibility . . . teachers will . . . train their
own support personnel . . . demand relevant research and readily accessible information . . . set standards of practice and police their own ranks . . . take responsibility for
results (pp. 317
318).
The preceding quote represents a glimpse of the thinking about leadership within
the profession. According to Dougherty and Hammack (1990), When professionals
are employed in bureaucratic settings, their free exercise of professional practice may
be limited by bureaucratic hierarchy (p. 170). As schools are currently fashioned, the
opportunity to control their professional practice will remain unavailable to teachers.
The teacher-leader is an individual who has the knowledge, skills and temperament
to engage in the important decisions that guide the educational endeavor. Without an
appropriate venue for fulfillment of leadership talents and without some semblance
of a career ladder within teaching, many teachers will opt out of teaching for lack of
an outlet for their interests and talents. Figure 1 provides a visual representation of
the four stages of leadership development.
/

Phase 1. The preservice experience

Phase I or the cooperative phase represents the preservice experience. It is during this
preservice stage that prospective teachers begin to develop new ideas about teaching

Preparing new teachers for leadership roles

57

Professional
Development for
Teacher
Leadership

Phase 1
Cooperative

Preservice practice
with leadership
skills for the
classroom

Phase 2
Extended

Peer and
Professional
Association
Leadership

Phase 3
Mentoring

Phase 4
Global

Leadership roles
with new teachers

Leadership for
changing the
profession

Figure 1. Four phase model of leadership development

and learning. The attitudes, beliefs and images they bring with them to the program
are vivid and valid. The first order of business is to begin addressing teaching and
learning from the other side of the desk. From the very beginning and throughout
the preparation program it is essential to include leadership issues in every course.
With limited, and often contrived, opportunities to practice newly acquired skills it is
important to keep some simple but attainable goals in mind. At the conclusion of the
preparation program, successful preservice teachers can:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Effectively organize students, time, materials, space and content for instruction.
Effectively choose strategies and methods that are appropriate for a given group
of students and a particular kind of content.
Effectively, creatively and consistently convey content-specific information at the
appropriate student level.
Effectively interact with students, colleagues, administrators and parents.

This set of goals sounds like the goals of most teacher preparation programs. So, what
does this have to do with developing leadership skills? At the preservice stage of
leadership development the most pressing concern is that of effective classroom
leadership. The first step to develop effective classroom leaders is to realign the
students (i.e. preservice teachers) thinking about what it means to be a teacher. Role
definition and the opportunity to practice the role of teacher are integral parts of the
preservice experience. When defining the roles of teacher it is important to use
leadership vocabulary. The preservice teacher comes to the preservice program with a
history as a student. As students they received instruction, but perhaps little understanding of the process that formulated a particular teachers lesson. Too many teacher

58

C. L. Quinn et al.

educators provide little modeling of the methods they advocate and even fewer engage
in sharing their own thinking processes with their students. The framework for Phase 1
includes the four goals for successful preservice teachers. The subtext attempts to
address the issue of teacher educator behaviors that promote leadership learning.
Goal 1. Organization
The process of learning to organize for instruction requires skill development in
coordinating the elements of the curriculum. The preservice teacher must become
adept at identifying and obtaining appropriate materials to support instruction.
Planning for effective instructional space and managing time are also important.
Finally, formulating evaluation methods that measure success for students and a
critique of the design process further develops the preservice teachers ability to
provide leadership in the classroom.
Table 1 provides examples of experiences that enhance skill development in these
areas. Careful planning with coordination across the courses of a preparation
program maximizes the opportunities for preservice teachers to develop confidence
in their ability to organize for instruction.
Goal 2. Strategies and methods
Once the preservice teacher has organized for instruction it is time to determine how
to approach the content for the benefit of learners. The primary method of
instruction in the college or university classroom is lecture. University-based teacher
educators model a variety of instructional methods more frequently than their
university peers, but only at slightly higher rates. Preservice teachers need to practice
designing and delivering instruction from a wide selection of available models.
Aspiring teachers need to observe many models of instruction and they need to make
the connections between teaching methods and student achievement. Preservice
teachers who are encouraged to experiment with methodology are more likely to
engage in positive risk-taking behavior.
Table 2 illustrates experiences for developing skill and creativity among preservice
teachers. Facilitating these experiences requires new ways to organize time and
instruction within the preparation program.
Goal 3. Conveying content
The content of basic education courses is shaped by state guidelines, often in the form
of standards and benchmarks. Alongside the public and political demand for increased
student performance levels is the parallel demand for increasing the standards of
performance for those seeking teacher certification. Even the most engaged preservice
teachers have gaps in their content knowledge. For all teachers, regardless of career
stage, an awareness of these gaps becomes as important as the need to develop strategies

Preparing new teachers for leadership roles

59

Table 1. Organizing for instruction

Skills

Experiences

Curriculum Content

1. Prepare a resource file containing state standards and benchmarks for

your content field, a school district curriculum guide and national content
standards.
2. Given three IEPs for students included in each of your four courses
(found in items 1 & 2 under the heading Space and Time), note on your
calendar possible adaptations for accommodating these students needs.

Materials

1. Develop a table of materials for each of the four courses you identified
and calendared. Organize the materials inventory by those you have,
those that are available (note the source & location), and those you need.
2. Identify the source of existing materials for your list of those needed
or develop appropriate materials.

Space & time

1. Develop two course calendar templates; one for a standard schedule

with 55-minute classes that encompass the entire school year and one for
a block schedule of 100-minute classes that terminate after one semester.
2. Identify four courses you are likely to teach. Develop a course calendar
for each, first as a regular schedule, then as a block schedule. The
calendar must clearly indicate sequence and duration of topics/units/or
other divisions. Cross-reference the standards and benchmarks found in
your resource file.
3. Design the learning space for a variety of lessons. Test the models in a
laboratory or field-based setting. Make necessary changes, documenting
your reasons.

Assessment

1. Review the items in the materials inventory. Using self-developed

rubrics, assess the value of each. Decide what needs to be replaced,
rejected or modified to achieve the result you want.
2. Refer to your self-developed course calendars, make preliminary
decisions about how you might evaluate each aspect of your plan. Note
the difference in plan assessment and student assessment.

for extending content knowledge. This is too crucial to leave to chance. Preparation
programs largely ignore content knowledge in favor of pedagogical concerns.
Table 3 demonstrates one approach to extending content knowledge for preservice
teachers. This design assumes that preservice teachers own the task of extending
their content knowledge and further, highlights the belief that all teachers must take
responsibility for extending their content knowledge throughout their careers.
Goal 4. Interaction
Positive, productive personal interaction requires practice, self-knowledge, confidence, flexibility, empathy and a sense of fair play. The examples in Table 4 attempt
to recognize that interactions are both planned and unplanned, enjoyable and
agonizing and always subject to the vagaries of the human element.

60

C. L. Quinn et al.
Table 2. Strategies and methods

Skills

Experiences

Curriculum Content

1. Refer to your course calendars, then speculate about the various

strategies and methods you might use to teach the topics/units or other
divisions. Provide a rationale for each choice.
2. Develop alternate strategies and methods for your included students or
for students with reading difficulties. Provide a rationale for each choice.

Materials

Revisit the materials inventory. Select materials to support your planning

in Curriculum Content. Justify your selections.

Space & time

1. Indicate which model of learning space is suitable for your planning in

Curriculum Content.
2. Maximize student opportunities to manipulate information contained
in the planned content. Highlight any changes in the original plan.

Assessment

1. Begin thinking about appropriate assessments of student learning. Note

possibilities in your plan.

Phase 2. Peer and professional association leadership

Once the novice teacher has begun teaching in a permanent position, the challenge
becomes one of solidifying the skills acquired in preservice education and practica. In
most instances this task requires the practitioners full attention for the initial year
(Martin et al., 2001). By Year 2 novice teachers need to begin the acquisition of
additional skills and decide on a career path within education.
Maturing in the classroom
Whatever their long-term goals, practitioners need to begin employing leadership
skills that move them from adequate performance to excellent performance. Though

Table 3. Content knowledge

Skills

Experiences

Self-assessment

Prepare an inventory of your content knowledge. The SWOT model may

work well for you.
(SWOT) Strengths
/ Weaknesses
/ Opportunities
/ Threats
Be brutally honest with yourself.

Research

Start with Threats. Develop a plan to increase your content knowledge in

these areas. Move to weaknesses next, again devising a plan to learn more.

Incorporation

Develop a lesson in your weakest content area. Highlight the newly

acquired knowledge.

Preparing new teachers for leadership roles

61

Table 4. Interpersonal skills

Skills

Experiences

Planned interaction

1. Prepare a list of questions to ask your mentor or supervisor about your

preparation and performance.
2. Role plays*/contact a parent with good news/bad news, counsel a
student you suspect of cheating, and offer your suggestions to colleagues
about a planned curricular change.

Unplanned interaction

Role plays*/deal with an interruption of your class by a student, a

support staff member, a parent and your supervisor.

Negotiation

1. Prepare and present proposals for funding for a field trip, classroom
materials, a professional meeting and a course to improve your teaching.
2. Develop a contract for a student with behavior problems. Seek input
from the student.

Conflict

1. Respond in writing to a critical review from your supervisor.

2. Role plays*/react to a student disruption, initiate corrective measures
in the cafeteria, and instigate a group response to a perceived act of
unfairness by the administration.

theoretical bases of learning and instruction are introduced during the preservice
years, practice is, rightfully, the emphasis of instruction. At this point in their careers
novices can revisit the foundations of practice and theory with the insight of practical
experience. The abstract becomes application based on real encounters with varying
student aptitude, learning problems and motivation. Novices now have the freedom
and the confidence to explore and innovate within their classrooms, a luxury that was
missing during the preservice period.
Classroom management issues seem to be the dominant concern for the majority
of new teachers. The acquisition and implementation of skills in management, as
opposed to instruction, is a major determiner of success or failure. Practitioners
who fail to shape their own style of management struggle with control and instruction
and cannot then extend their efforts beyond these basic tasks (Gilles et al., 2001).
Planning for instruction, creating and maintaining productive learning environments, allocating the resources of time and materials, putting in place effective
control and feedback systems and providing for motivation and personal satisfaction
of students are the tasks of management that support but are not synonymous with
instruction. These same skills, applied to different contexts, are skills that support
interpersonal skills to produce effective professional leadership.
Since curricular decisions drive the most educational changes, the practitioner
needs to become proficient and knowledgeable about the structure of curriculum and
familiar with the concepts of scope and sequence of content. These are the
foundations of the end products of the educative process and determine how the
essential goals of education are tailored to each school district. As local input

62

C. L. Quinn et al.

provides focus on what emphases are preferred for the students of the district,
knowledgeable practitioners must know how to apply these emphases to the selection
of specific content and performance skills. Thus, the professional educators role
becomes more important, rather than less, as parent and community input becomes
more frequent. Curricular leadership can be accomplished only when the practitioner possesses these requisite skills.
Looking beyond the classroom
Practitioners must be able to focus beyond the local scene. International educational
practices and student achievement provide an important yardstick by which to
measure the educational performance of the practitioner and the district. A realistic
comparison allows teacher-leaders to help themselves and colleagues focus on
deficits that are found as a result of the analysis.
One of the most powerful tools available to practitioners in their quests for teacher
leadership roles is the ability to use the evaluation measures that are available to
them. Self-evaluation is a process taught to all preservice teachers, but mastered by
few. The threat of constant evaluation of performance by others rather short-circuits
ones ability to look internally with painful honesty. The confidence the practitioner
gains by having control of the job site (the practitioners classroom) allows more
productive introspection and better use of student learning as part of the feedback
system for assessing performance. The use of data collection via daily teaching
diaries, in which the practitioner records the most and least successful activities,
strategies and decisions of the day, can clearly show evolving patterns which
will become the practitioners teaching and management style. Unmonitored,
repetitions of ineffective practice can become habits that interfere with high-quality
performance. These data can also be used with the SWOT process previously
discussed in Table 3.
In addition, novice teachers are given periodic opportunities to be evaluated by
principals and/or supervisors. These evaluations can be used both for immediate
performance improvement and as jumping-off points for discussions with these
evaluators about how the results of the evaluation can be used as a basis for a more
long-term professional development plan. The new practitioner who takes initiative
for the professional development plan has the advantage of putting analytical skills to
use in problem-finding, solution-generating, assessing and implementing; core skills
needed by teacher-leaders.
The practitioner who continually accesses new information and research findings
maintains a wellspring of resources for enriching present performance as well as a
variety of means to achieve the goals of professional growth. Selecting and
maintaining membership in relevant professional organizations provides a reliable
source of such information. Attending conferences gives the practitioners both the
opportunity to discuss new ideas with presenters and colleagues and the confidence
of hearing an expert taking a position with which one agrees. Professional

Preparing new teachers for leadership roles

63

organizations also provide the opportunity for the practitioner to present the results
of action research and analysis of how ones students have achieved as a product of
ones instructional and management performance.
The teacher leader is necessary for the educational process to keep pace with the
needs of a changing student body within a changing environment. The principal, the
traditional educational leader, is unable to function in every situation in
which leadership is needed. Without the teacher leader, little innovative problemsolving could be implemented (Patterson, 2001). Committees and task forces
within the school and district are rich settings to develop and exert leadership
abilities. Participation in similar groups in professional organizations gives
opportunities to watch other effective leaders in action, to share leadership
roles and to acquire information that is useful, and perhaps needed, at the local
level.
Although novice teachers have several tasks to accomplish in the initial years of
their careers, the tasks are interrelated. As practitioners refine their instructional and
management skills, they also develop skills essential to effective leadership. The
practitioner who recognizes these skills and is willing to accept the role of teacherleader will also move forward toward excellence in teaching performance. Table 5
extends the discussion with examples of skills and experiences that promote
leadership learning for the novice teacher.
Phase 3. Mentoring new teachers
A Phase 3 or mentoring teacher has been in the profession for five to seven years and
has a commitment to continued employment as a teacher. This person likely holds
tenure in the employing school district and is eligible for second -level or advanced
teacher certification. The mentoring teacher actively works with novice and
preservice teachers. Helping to establish directions for the district, school or
department through curriculum or textbook selection committees or school councils,
the mentoring teacher has found a professional voice.
A major area of endeavor beyond classroom teaching focuses on mentoring
novice and preservice teachers. The skills required for this level of activity
should be developed through direct training (Bey, 1990; Huling-Austin, 1992). A
frequent oversight in the preparation for mentoring preservice teachers is the
orientation of the mentor to the desired type of partnership (Inglis, 1988). The
mentor teacher must acquire strong skills in the evaluation of instructional
effectiveness (Odell, 1987).
The National Center for Education Statistics (Haynes, 1988; NCES) found that
first-year teachers are 2.5 times more likely than their experienced colleagues to leave
teaching. Furthermore, the attrition problem persists into the beginning phases of
teaching with 15% of new teachers leaving after Year 2 and another 10% after Year 3
(NCES, 1995). If mentor teachers are taking advanced courses as part of a
professional development plan for licensure renewal or a graduate degree, then

64

C. L. Quinn et al.
Table 5. Leadership for inservice teachers

Skills

Experiences

Uses multiple theories of instruction and

learning in practice.

Seeks opportunities for continuing professional

development.

Manages the classroom effectively.

Actively engages in the development of an

effective classroom management plan, observing
effective colleagues, and responding with
flexibility to challenges.

Uses curricular frameworks to organize

instruction.

Uses research-based best practices

Uses knowledge of international and

multicultural perspectives, informing
practice within prescribed curriculum.

Seeks opportunities to acquire information and

understanding of curricular organization and
content.

Develops a personally motivated

professional development plan as a
result of self- and external evaluation.

Engages in continual self-evaluation through

journaling or other means, identifying strengths,
weaknesses and opportunities. Works with
assigned external evaluator to analyze periodic
evaluations and set goals for professional
development.

Includes recent research, technologies,

and methodologies in classroom practice.

Actively engaged in appropriate professional

organizations, attending and presenting at
conferences and workshops. Reads the
professional literature.

Functions effectively within professional

committees.

Seeks committee roles in the district and in

professional organizations. Acquires new skills
through the challenge of committee work.

Applies effective organizational change

strategies to classroom and professional
practice.

Works with colleagues to share information,

engage discussion of issues and solve problems.

supervision courses and appropriate opportunities to practice the skills of supervision

should be a part of the program. Supervision training offers a natural partnership
between schools and universities. Quality supervision is necessary for preservice
teachers to make the transition from student to teacher and remain productive in the
profession. Mentoring is clearly needed to reduce the number of qualified teachers
who leave the profession in the early years.
In a study of teacher retention and attrition, Carolyn McCreight (2000) examined
why teachers leave. Teachers leave the profession because they are unprepared for the
realities of teaching. The low emphasis on professional development contributes to

Preparing new teachers for leadership roles

65

the novice teachers decision to leave teaching. Mentoring should be extended

throughout the novice phase of teaching. Many states or districts mandate a one-year
induction program which may not be sufficient. Mentoring programs should be
helpful for the novice teacher, providing support and assistance, not adding stress.
Classroom teachers are more likely than principals or university professors to be in
tune with the needs of novice teachers. Mentors who are peer coaches can assist
novices in a variety of ways. They should know that at the beginning, new teachers
need concrete assistance as they are focused on the curriculum (How do I teach
this?) and getting though each day (How does the copy machine work?). Mentors
can help novices move through these issues, enabling them to focus on students and
meeting students individual needs Table 6 provides an overview of potential areas of
assistance.
Mentor teachers find that they improve their own practice as they mentor (Gordon
& Maxey, 2000). It can be a time of renewal and growth as mentors examine their
own work and explain it to others. In a study of teacher mentoring as professional
development, Leslie Huling (2001) cited several benefits of mentoring for Phase 3
teachers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Increased opportunity for reflective practice.

Professional renewal.
Collegiality as a result of more collaboration.
Psychological benefits like satisfaction and self-actualization.
Valuable contributions as teacher-leaders.
Mentoring itself because of the need to engage in a variety of inquiry.

Huling concludes, because mentors can exert substantially greater influence on

the school organization than novices, the benefits mentors derive from mentoring
may be of equal, or even greater, importance than those experienced by novice
teachers (2001, p. 4).

Table 6. Potential areas of assistance

Within the Classroom

Outside the Classroom

Creating a positive classroom environment.

Developing a classroom management plan.
Establishing grading policies in line with
district guidelines and personal philosophy.

Conducting parent conferences.

Creating a professional development plan.
Using personnel support services effectively.
(Guidance, special education/learning support,
social workers & school nurse.)

Preparing for a substitute teacher.

Managing paperwork, internal communications

& the computer system.

Working with an aide or other

paraprofessional.

Planning for a field trip.

66

C. L. Quinn et al.

Phase 4. Changing the profession

The professional teacher is one who meets all the criteria for career teacher, but who
has become self-actualizing in the teaching profession. This person would have a
commitment to the profession of teaching as well as to a career in teaching. This
commitment would be acted out by participation in leadership activities at the
school, district or professional organization level, by self-selected professional
development activities and by participation in activities where the generation and
sharing of information and new knowledge takes place.
An example of circumstances where information sharing and generation is critical
is in the restructuring of the educational process. The current emphasis on the
interactions between business and industry and education points out the need for
educators who are able to collaborate in the critique and analysis of instruction with
those in non-school settings (Burdin, 1988).
The professional teacher must be able to codify effective interventions and
methods in order to communicate them to others. The ability to tie theory to practice
by applying explanatory theory or deriving practice theory take methodologies out of
the realm of personal strategies and makes them generalizable (Harris, 1985), thus
both generating and sharing new knowledge. Table 7 provides some examples of
Phase 4 leadership skills and experiences.
The role of the professional teacher in shaping the profession may extend in two
rather different directions. First, an empowered professional teacher may share
decision-making at the local level. Participative management, e.g. site-based management, is more effective as the participants are more knowledgeable (Ivancevich et al.,
1977). As the teacher gains more confidence in participating in decision-making roles,
more responsibility for innovation is accepted.
Second, knowledge of the educational system as a whole, knowledge of theorybased practice, e.g., content-specific pedagogies and a grasp of the ethical and
function dimensions of teaching, enable the professional teacher to take leadership
roles in professional associations and within the profession itself through participation in venues such as professional standards and practices councils.
Knowledge of the system is also necessary for the professional who acts as a change
agent within the system. The limitations imposed on restructuring efforts by budget;
rules, regulations and policies; and the tradition of past practice demand that the
instigator of change must know where these factors set the boundaries for what is
possible.
Discussion
The acquisition of these and other skills gives a more holistic view of the educational
enterprise than that of the novice or even the career teacher. Professional teachers see
their work in the classroom as only a part of the professional role*a part of their
responsibilities as educators. No master agreement can describe the responsibilities
of the professional teacher, because they are self-selected. No annual evaluation by a
/

Preparing new teachers for leadership roles

67

Table 7. Leadership skills for Phase 4 teachers

Skills

Experiences

Self
/motivation

Initiates positive changes for self, classroom & profession.

Self-evaluation with action

Reflects on professional practice & implements changes.

Goal setting & extension

Guides own professional development & plays a role in the

professional development of others.

Problem-finding

Takes the lead in identifying problems.

Problem-solving &
collaboration

Identifying key stakeholders and developing a selection of solutions

to a problem.

Continuous improvement
of teaching

Selects effective teaching and assessment methods, consistent with

personal philosophy of education.
Uses action research to improve classroom practice.

Judgment, integrity &

ethics

Continuously checks the actions of self against the actions expected

of others.

General knowledge

Provides testimony to a state governing body.

Encourages less experienced colleagues to become involved in
professional organizations.

Interpersonal skills

Finds balance between personal & professional life.

Generates options for a given situation.
Engages in active, effective listening.

supervisor or principal can evaluate the success of the professional teacher in

activities outside the classroom, because they are more accessible for observation by
colleagues outside the district.
Change, whether imposed or evolved, is never easy or painless. The teacher leader
plays an important role in implementing educational change. First, teachers act as
gatekeepers, selecting to support or not to support change efforts. Practitioners exert
leadership by sharing information, modeling new practices and initiating new
programs (Rosenholtz, 1991). Finally, teacher leaders use their interpersonal skills
to draw out and draw in their colleagues to innovations. The practitioners ability to
engage colleagues in non-threatening and analytical discussion of present practice of
innovations is a marvelous skill of the change agent.

Note
1.

The preliminary work for this paper was presented at the Association of Teachers Educators
Summer Workshop in 1992.

68

C. L. Quinn et al.

References
Berry, B. & Ginsberg, R. (1990) Effective schools, teachers, and principals: todays evidence,
tomorrows prospects, in: B. Mitchell & L. Cunningham (Eds) Educational leadership and
changing contexts of families, communities, and schools. Eighty-ninth yearbook of the National
Society for the Study of Education (Part II) (Chicago, IL, University of Chicago Press),
155
/183.
Bey, T. M. (1990) A new knowledge base for an old practice, in: T. M. Bey & C. T. Holmes (Eds)
Mentoring: developing successful new teachers (Reston, VA, Association of Teacher Educators),
51
/73.
Bozik, M. (1990) Teachers as creative decision makers: implications for curriculum, Action in
Teacher Education, 12(1), 50
/54.
Burdin, J. (1988) Schools, communities, and the private sector, in: D. E. Orlosky (Ed.) Schools,
society and teacher preparation (Washington DC, Clearinghouse on Teacher Education).
Darling-Hammond, L. (1988) The futures of teaching, Educational Leadership, 46(3), 4
/10.
Dougherty, K. J. & Hammack, F. M. (1990) Education and society: a reader (New York, Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich).
Gilles, C., Cramer, M. & Hwang, S. (2001) Beginning teacher perceptions of concerns: a
longitudinal look at teacher development, Action in Teacher Education, 23(3), 92
/98.
Gordon, S. & Maxey, S. (2000) How to help beginning teachers succeed (2nd edn) (Alexandria, VA,
Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development).
Harris, I. B. (1985) An exploration of the role of theories in communication for guiding
practitioners, Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 1(1), 27
/55.
Heyns, B. (1988) Educational defectors: a first look at teacher attrition in the NLS-72, Education
Researcher, 17(3), 24
/32.
Huling, L. (2001) Teacher mentoring as professional development. Available online at: http://
www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed460125.html (accessed 3 November 2002).
Huling-Austin, L. L. (1992) Research on learning to teach: implications for teacher induction and
mentoring programs, Journal of Teacher Education , 43(3), 173
/180.
Inglis, J. (1988) Governance issues in the education profession, in: D. E. Orlosky (Ed.) Schools,
society and teacher preparation (Washington DC, Clearinghouse on Teacher Education).
Ivancevich, J. M., Szilagyi, A. D. & Wallace, M. J. (1977) Organizational behavior and performance
(Santa Monica, CA, Goodyear).
Martin, L., Choido, L. & Change, L. (2001) First year teachers: looking back after three years,
Action in Teacher Education, 23(1), 55
/63.
McCreight, C. (2000) Teacher attrition, shortage, and strategies for teacher retention (US Department
of Education, National Institute of Education) (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.
ED 444 986).
Moran, S. W. (1990) Schools and the beginning teacher, Phi Delta Kappan, 72(3), 210
/213.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (1995) Which types of schools have the highest
teacher turnover? (Washington DC, US Department of Education, Office of Education
Research and Improvement).
Odell, S. (1987) Teacher induction: rationale and issues, in: D. M. Brooks (Ed.) Teacher induction:
a new beginning (Reston, VA, Association of Teacher Educators), 69
/80.
Patterson, J. (2001) The role of teacher leaders in educational reform, The Internet Source for
Schools , 4(3).
Rosenholtz, S. J. (1991) Teachers workplace: the social organization of schools (New York, Teachers
College Press).
Ryan, K. & Cooper, J. M. (2000) Those who can, teach (9th edn) (New York, Houghton Mifflin).
Swart, E. (1990) So, you want to be a professional?, Phi Delta Kappan, 72(4), 315
/318.